What Happens in Vegas
by ShannonChelsea
Summary: In America there is a saying, 'What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas'... Will this ring true to two European Natives who find themselves in a situation like no other? One night. Many mistakes. A predicament like no other. HG/DM
1. Chapter 1

March 10 

I sit patiently waiting for the hearing to start. I look over at him before quickly looking ahead. He makes my skin crawl. I can't help but shake in fury as he sits there with the top Attorneys that the Wizarding World possesses. I sit alone. I leaf through all the notes I have brought, setting aside the ones regarding 'annulment'. This marriage will be over. And it will end in my favour.

He won't win this war.

March 7

"You are demoting me? You are going to demote your own son? Your only son…" He said astonished at what he had just been told. _My own parents? Allowing the Dark Lord to demote me! _He thought as he looked toward a man who looked just like him. Only this man looked tired. His face was sunken, and is eyes were dead. Lucius Malfoy.

Then there was Draco, his son. Former Slytherin Prince, and a future Death Eater.

Draco was stationed by his mother, who sat on a plush green chair. Her back was stiff and her mouth curved in a very thin line. She to looked upon her husband. She did not say a word.

"I cannot have you under the Lord's ranks when you cannot even perform a measly task such as the one you have failed. You are not ready. You have disgraced the Malfoy name, and I cannot have you defy him once more." Lucius stated this in a whisper, as he paced back and forth.

Draco shook his head. "So that's it? You don't want me to be a Death Eater? What am I to do then, father? Sit at home with mother, while you go on to fight without me? I won't have it!" He whined, before turning to Narcissa to say, "Mother please don't let him do this. I want to fight!"

She merely shook her head as she continued to look ahead… Not really looking at anything at all.

"The Lord cannot have his most loyal followers bring forth weak advocates. You had your chance, and you have failed. I am now burdened with your failure, and I will not have you deepen us into more turmoil." Lucius said this with such distaste that Draco could not help but flinch. His grip on the armchair tightened before he was roughly dismissed.

He departed with his head down. Many thoughts swarmed his head, but he shoved them off.

He had to get out of the manor. He had to drown his sorrows; he must distract himself from the inevitable pain failure would bring him.

After shutting the door behind him, he quickly walked to the gates before apparating to the Leaky Cauldron.

There you could find him surrounded by many empty glasses. He took in one after the other, as Tom the barkeep looked towards him with a fearful expression.

It was widely known that Draco Malfoy had been apart of Albus Dumbledore's attempted murder. He of course had failed, setting himself up for his own death. Why had he tried to kill this man?

Lord Voldemort. The King of Dark Magic, a man looking to take over the Wizarding World. To eliminate all that was below him. Muggle-borns, Pure-blood traitors, and more importantly: Harry Potter.

Since birth Draco had been destined to help the Dark Lord come to such a victory, and when his time came to prove himself he had failed miserably. And failure would most likely equal to his untimely death. But he lived on. Normally one would be blessed with such a miracle, but Draco wanted to prove himself worthy. It is clear now that he would not get that chance.

Meanwhile at the opposite end of Diagon Alley a young woman had just departed from her soon-to-be husband for another day of Auror training. This woman was known best as Hermione Granger.

She quickly stole a glance at Ron as he fled towards Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. His flaming red hair could be seen through the crowd. This made her smile. Before she could turn to look for her Auror partner she was being pulled in the opposite direction causing her to stumble slightly.

"Harry please!" She exclaimed, "A fair warning would be nice!" He smiled slightly before he apparated them to their destination. He dropped her hand and quickly straightened his tie before walking in. She followed.

The day went by slowly and she was very greatful when she found herself in front of her flat. She made her way inside, hanging up her jacket and dropping her keys. She yawned, before her attention was drawn to the kitchen.

There she found Ron Weasley stationed at the table, butter beer in hand.

She made her way forward, his sullen face making her slightly nervous. She swooped down, kissing his cheek. She sat opposite him waiting for him to speak. He didn't say a word.

"Ron…" she began before he put a hand up. She stopped.

"Hermione, I can't do this anymore." He simply stated as he fiddled with the bottle in his hand.

"What do you mean Ron? We're to be married in a months time! Why would you even think to say that?" She inquired as he shook his head.

"We had fun in school Hermione. You, Harry and I. Didn't we have fun?"

"Yes we did Ronald, but I don't see what this has to do with any –"

"Hermione, being out of school… Things are different now. You are different. You are just too serious now. All you do is work. You don't have time for me. How do you expect to have time for our marriage?" At this he finally looked up; there was no emotion in his eyes.

"You want to leave me because I'm too serious? Because I have a future? Because I am doing something with my life? Bec –"

"I'm going to be staying with Harry. I'm really sorry Hermione." He then stood up and quickly fled before she could interject anymore.

She looked at the wall in front of her. She sat there, her eyes stayed dry.

A pop was heard in the living room, and she had still not moved. Ginny rushed in.

"Hermione, I am so sorry" was all she could say before Hermione began to sob. She cried and cried and she yelled. She screamed. And she threw anything and everything. She ripped and tore at papers; she had an absolute fit.

She could take no more, and she soon slumped into her chair, her eyes on the floor. Ginny sat there; she held onto her Hermione's hand and had no words to say.

"I have to go. I can't stay here, Ginny." Was all she said before she stood up and with a 'pop' she disappeared. Ginny just shook her head before she did the same.

The Leaky Cauldron.

By the time Hermione had made her way towards the bar, and to the seat next to Draco Malfoy they were the only customers left. They ignored each other as she ordered a drink.

Draco looked towards her before turning back to his drink and he sneered in disgust.

"Of all places to sit Mudblood, you had to choose the one directly beside me." He stated as she looked up. She shook her head. She did not care. She took a swig from the bottle in her hand.

"Malfoy I am in no mood for your insults. There is no rule stating I cannot sit beside you. So I am staying. If it bothers you so much, then you move." She then motioned for another drink as she slammed her first on the table. She drained that quickly and went onto her third. He spoke again.

"Didn't take you for a drinker Granger. Did Weasel and Pothead do something to get your hair in a frizz? Oops, sorry… In more of a frizz?" He chuckled at his own insult. He was way past the point of having any sense. Unfortunately Hermione could comprehend his slurs and she replied, "And I am surprised you are here drinking, Malfoy. Shouldn't you be off doing your 'Lord's' biddings?" She hiccoughed as she took in another drink.

"I'll have you know that I do not take orders from anyone."

This caused Hermione to giggle, earning her a hateful glare in return.

"They abandoned me," he finally admitted, more to himself.

"Your own father has left you high and dry, huh? Well I am in the same boat. You get abandoned. I get dumped. Drink to that?" Hermione said as they raised their glasses before knocking them together. Draco's bottled slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor spraying them with its remains.

And so the night began.

Soon after they left the Leaky Cauldron, stumbling along the streets of Diagon Alley until they found a small building, marked as a Casino. They went inside, only to be back at the Leaky Cauldron within 15 minutes later.

"I cannot believe I just lost over 200 Galleons," Draco muttered, as Hermione giggled nearly tipping off her stool.

"Malfoy. You know what we need? Another bloody drink!"

"Cheers to that," he said nodding in agreement, as Tom cautiously passed them their drinks, only to groan when Hermione knocked hers over within seconds.

Hermione laughed, and Draco smirked.

"I can't believe the Draco Malfoy has been abandoned. You practically live on the streets now!" Hermione said, not really thinking about the words she uttered, smiling with glee.

Draco turned sour before reminding her, "You got dumped by a Weasley." This shut her right up.

Time passed, and more secrets were shed, as they clung to each other after clumsily leaving the Leaky Cauldron. They walked in anything but a straight line as Hermione finally spoke up. She did not want to go home to an empty house. She wanted to escape London, escape her problems, and weirdly enough… Escape with Malfoy.

But who could trust her judgment at this point?

She spoke:

"Malfoy... Do you know the one place where you can rid yourself of all the bad things in life? The one place where we can escape, and leave all of this behind? A place where any one can truly be happy?" Draco shook his head, not knowing of such a place. At this, Hermione grabbed his hand and apparated.

Las Vegas.

"Where the hell are we Granger?" He asked, as he looked around at all the flashing lights. He felt dizzy. She led him around. More drinks were bought. Hermione cried, Draco laughed. The night went on.

They went from Casino to Casino, shedding themselves of most of the money in their pockets.. The more they drank, the more they got close..

And then the inevitable… They stumbled across a Wedding Chapel.

The night was a blur.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews! This is a short one, that I had already made, it could've been longer, but I was eager to pass on some more! This story will be longer than you think, and has a bit of a twist to it, so just sit back, and within the next chapter or two they will be in court.. And THAT is where the story truly unfolds! .. And, of course I don't own any Harry Potter characters.**

A phone rang, and Hermione shot up, quickly regretting it as her hand came immediately to her aching forehead. She turned to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Malfoy, we have called to inform you that your husband had to leave for an urgent meeting and will not be returning. He has asked that you pay for all the damages in your room, as well as your drink tab and your time spent here."

Hermione agreed before hanging up and lying back down.

Wait.

She shot back up, before whispering, "Mrs. Malfoy?" Instinctively she looked to her left hand to find a large diamond ring. The night came flooding back to her.

"What have I done?"

March 8

It was quite obvious what had to be done.

After returning from that god-for-saken town in America, Hermione made her way to what she was certain to be the Malfoy Manor. Before opening the gate she mentally kicked herself.

Bits and pieces of her conversation with Malfoy flew through her mind reminding her of what caused him to drink in the first place.

_Where could he possibly go?_ She thought before resorting to owling him, leaving the searching up to her pet owl Quills.

She then made her way to the Leaky Cauldron, in which she hoped to soon find Malfoy, owing that he obliged to her meek request.

Sipping on tea, she waited, rather impatiently before she heard a faint 'pop' by the door.

And there he was, as somber as ever, slowly making his way over to her. He had dark circles under his eyes. He rubbed them sleepily as he let himself drop in the seat before her.

"…Malfoy," she began before he put up his hand.

"I have already made arrangements for a hearing. I expect to see you at the Ministry on March 10th at 9AM… You must tell no one. We will end this faster then it began, Granger. Mark my words."

At that he began to stand, only to be stopped as Hermione gently clasped her cold hand around his wrist.

"Do you remember?" she asked quietly as he looked down at her hand in disgust.

"I know as much as you, Granger," he simply said before prying her hand off of him.

"I don't remember anything," she whispered, tears glazed her eyes.

"It is clear that I am in the same position. All except for one small detail," he said before thrusting a picture on the table.

She picked it up to find Malfoy and herself standing side by side, each holding a bottle of champagne. In the background you could find what appeared to be a wedding alter, and a man who tried to look like Elvis. Their eyes were only half open, but they both bore wide grins. Hermione threw it down.

"See you March 10th," she said and left it at that.

Hermione slumped back in her chair as soon as she knew he was gone. She stirred her tea absent mindedly, finding herself in deep thought.  
Of course she had already analyzed the situation over and over again, knowing that an annulment is what she wanted. But there are always small circumstances in which that cannot be granted, and she would not let those things get in the way of what she wanted.

She warily looked towards the ring on her finger, as a frown formed on her face. She ripped it off and dropped it into her pocket. And with that she stood, dropping a few sickles on the table and proceeded to her empty flat.

Draco, however, did not go to the place he called home. Instead, he went and quickly purchased a flat that resided in Hogsmeade. He could never return to the Manor, for he had shamed the family name and was no longer welcome. But that did not mean they left him without his previous resources, and for that he was thankful.

He slumped on a couch by his new large fireplace, and watched the embers flicker before him. In his hand was the picture he had just shown Granger. His eyes narrowed towards it, as he watched himself and Granger twirl around while kissing eachother's faces. He sneered in disgust before he chucked it in the fire. _If it ever has to end that way, _he thought, _then so be it._


End file.
